England pivot Jonny Wilkinson marked his return to action from shoulder surgery with a faultless placekicking display as Newcastle beat Northampton 32-22 in the Premiership on Sunday.

Wilkinson kicked 22 points and set up a try as the Falcons won their first league match of the season.

But champions Wasps suffered their second Premiership defeat in as many matches as visitors Worcester won 11-0 thanks to an injury-time penalty-goal from Loki Crichton.

Newcastle were 6-12 down at half-time, with Northampton captain Bruce Reihana kicking three penalties and former All Black five eighth Carlos Spencer adding another, with the hosts' two scores coming from the boot of Wilkinson.

But in the second-half Newcastle overhauled the Saints thanks to tries from lock Andy Buist and wing Ollie Phillips while Wilkinson kicked three penalties, two conversions and a drop goal.

Wilkinson, England's record points scorer, missed the season-opening defeat against Sale while recovering from the surgery which kept him out of his country's wretched two-Test tour of New Zealand.

His fitness is even more of a concern than normal with Danny Cipriani, the man who'd looked to have taken the England No.10 shirt off him, sidelined with an ankle injury which means the Wasps rising star may not be fit in time for the November Test programme at Twickenham.

The tough-tackling stand-off spent much of the time between scoring the winning drop-goal in the 2003 World Cup final against Australia in Sydney and last year's World Cup in France sidelined with a variety of injuries.

In particular, Wilkinson had problems with "stingers" caused by a pain shooting through his shoulder and neck region when trying to stop an opponent.

Wasps, in their first season since the retirement of former England No.8 and club legend Lawrence Dallaglio, could only watch as Samoa number 10 Crichton kicked a 35-metre penalty some 10 minutes into injury time to seal Worcester's win.

The Warriors had gone ahead with a try from centre Sam Tuitupou and a penalty from Matthew Jones before Wasps got on the scoreboard through England wing Paul Sackey.

Dave Walder, returning from a broken ankle, kicked a penalty to edge Wasps in front but then missed a late shot at goal.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP